Rivera helped his home after storm

Puerto Rican was on island during Maria

MIAMI — When Yadiel Rivera emerged from his parents’ house last year, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, the Miami Marlins infielder returned to his hometown of Caguas last September after wrapping up his minor league season in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Six days later, he found himself barricaded in his parents’ house — along with his wife and son — preparing for the worst.

Later that night Hurricane Maria struck, ravaging the island with 155 mph winds and over 24 inches of rain. After the storm finally passed, Rivera and his family stepped outside to survey the damage. While his family was unharmed, he gazed out on his neighborhood, witnessing the unthinkable devastation.

“It looked like a fire burned the entire island,” Rivera said. “It was something I’ve never seen before.”

Thursday marks a year since Maria hit and Puerto Rico is still recovering from the damage caused by the Category 4 hurricane. In August, George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health estimated the death toll to be about

3,000.

While most people in the states watched the aftermath from afar, Rivera experienced it firsthand.

The 26 year old, who lives in Gurabo, Puerto Rico — 5 miles away from his parents — in the offseason, stayed there for the next five months, helping his family and community recover from the catastrophic damage.

With the majority of the island’s power grid destroyed by the hurricane, Rivera and his family were left without electricity. While his apartment’s power came back in November, his parents had to wait until May — eight months after the storm hit. During that time, they were forced to improvise without basic resources at their disposal.

“For water, we went to a river and grabbed some water and showered there,” Rivera said. “For the power, we bought some power generators. We got two and that’s what they used until they got the [electricity] back.”

In addition to knocking out electricity, Hurricane Maria left a trail of physical destruction, downing trees and leaving debris across the island. With his hometown reeling, the four-year MLB veteran, who signed with the Marlins in the offseason, began doing his part to help accelerate the recovery process.

“I helped a lot around the community — cleaning the street, [delivering water to people],” Rivera said. “I forgot about baseball and started doing community service to help around. I felt I did my part to help Puerto Rico.”

On the eve of the oneyear anniversary of Maria’s landfall, there’s been a national discussion regarding the federal government’s response to the hurricane.

Rivera thinks much more could’ve been done to help Puerto Rico.

“I don’t really feel like FEMA really helped a lot on the island,” Rivera said. “That’s why I feel it took so long to get back on our feet. I think they could do a lot more than they did. Around the city, the mayors started doing the things they could do.

“I think the people do the most things — the community, they wait for the help. We did a lot of stuff, too. I can say about me, my parents and the community around me — we started working and didn’t wait for the help.”